Tuesday, February 20, 2007

My economics professor always taught us one simple concept: TANSTAAFL. Short for There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Likewise, in many instances, there ain't no such thing as a free font. Free for you may mean stealing from me.

If fonts are free, then why do foundries and individuals charge for them? Or, if they're worth paying for, then how can some web sites give them away for free?

There are individuals and foundries who do create original fonts, and distribute them at no charge. Free for you. There are also many, many fonts available on free font web sites that are derivative or blatant knock-off designs of commercially-available typefaces. Stealing from me.

Foundries charge for them because there is inherent value in the type designs, and the usefulness to others for their own commercial uses. They are valuable software, and legally protected as such. Foundries charge for them, because they take weeks and months to create. At this point in time, few, if any, foundries are using the Creative Commons licensing model.

If a font adds any value to what it may be used for, then isn't it worth something in and of itself?

It's admirable when an individual creates something like a font and makes it freely available, but that is their choice to do so; not every type designer or type foundry is obligated to follow the same course. It should be the creator's choice, not because somebody liked the original and tweaked two or three beziér points and called it an improvement and an original work. Just like with music, there's no inherent right to have access to another's work without compensating the creator.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

As magazines go, WIRED has always been a favorite, I've been reading it for years. Cover to cover, even the colophon.

The latest issue featured a redesign. If you weren't aware of it by simply looking at it (hello!), the many self-referential comments about the typography, scattered throughout, were a dead giveaway. And funny, if you enjoy typographic humor.

The best part about the redesign? Now it's readable (again). Every other redesign of WIRED seems to pick a different text typeface, this time it is a serif 's turn. Much more readable, although that's just my opinion.

The editorial voice seems to have become a bit corny, as if they are tired of trying to maintain their air of aloof inevitability, and having become a tad self-mocking. Similar to the editorial tone of MacAddict, now Mac|Life. Although not quite that goofy.